Man of Honour
I’ve had the Note II for several days now and thought it be worth posting some feedback on how it is over the S3 for those who may be considering upgrading to the new wave of 5”+ screen phones coming out in 2013.
In a few aspects I think it’s a fair comparison because the S3 is thin and light as is the Note 2, only differing in height and width, not so much in weight or noticeable thickness for that matter either. I’ve also owned the Nexus 7 (for what it’s worth).
Physical look & feel
On first look the N2 looks like a bit of a beast, the screen dominates the S3 but the N2 feels usable in the hand even if it doesn’t look it. Built quality is a bit better than the S3, I think this is largely down to having more glass and being closer to the frame of the phone itself, just feels more solid.
I’ve not found the size difference to be a problem in jeans or top jacket pocket, seems to be fairly normal between the two.
Usability differences]
There is quite a difference in performance I’ve found. The S3 has 1GB less RAM and I think this shows in general usage especially when multi-tasking. The S3 is fast and smooth on the whole but there was the occasional jitter here and there and even more so when enabling the power saving mode to limit CPU speed only. On the N2 there is no jitter, no issue using power saving mode either.
One handed use, the S3 feels more comfortable due to being curvier and thinner in width, this makes the screen easier to use one handed although over the last few days I’ve gotten used to the extra width of the N2 and can now use it one handed close to how I did with the S3 so this I no longer a worry for me.
Browsing websites is nicer on the N2, I still find zooming in on some sites is needed but on the while things look nicer and sharper on the bigger screen.
Features/Other
S-Pen is the obvious one, it’s made certain things better, taking screenshots, annotating and sending the image on its way to whoever is really useful. That and drawing moustaches on people having just taken their picture with the camera. There aren’t as many S-Pen enabled apps as I was hoping for but I am also hoping this will be better over the next few months!
The camera initialises faster than on the S3, again, this is most likely down to having more free memory and the faster CPU clock in combination.
Battery life is a lot better. One review said that it was similar to the S3 given the screen size difference but I’m going home from work with 60%+ left whereas the S3 was ending up with ~40% with the same usage.
3G reception is more reliable on the N2 as well, at -91dBm I was finding that the S3 struggled to load pages but the N2 loads them normally even at -101dBm. Actual speed seems the same when in good reception areas though which is fine by me.
The speaker on the N2 is far nicer to listen to, makes youtube/movie trailers and TV shows etc a much nicer experience, coupled with the big screen, it’s really quite pleasant. Some will probably have seen my youtube]video of the speaker quality difference.
In a few aspects I think it’s a fair comparison because the S3 is thin and light as is the Note 2, only differing in height and width, not so much in weight or noticeable thickness for that matter either. I’ve also owned the Nexus 7 (for what it’s worth).
Physical look & feel
On first look the N2 looks like a bit of a beast, the screen dominates the S3 but the N2 feels usable in the hand even if it doesn’t look it. Built quality is a bit better than the S3, I think this is largely down to having more glass and being closer to the frame of the phone itself, just feels more solid.
I’ve not found the size difference to be a problem in jeans or top jacket pocket, seems to be fairly normal between the two.
Usability differences]
There is quite a difference in performance I’ve found. The S3 has 1GB less RAM and I think this shows in general usage especially when multi-tasking. The S3 is fast and smooth on the whole but there was the occasional jitter here and there and even more so when enabling the power saving mode to limit CPU speed only. On the N2 there is no jitter, no issue using power saving mode either.
One handed use, the S3 feels more comfortable due to being curvier and thinner in width, this makes the screen easier to use one handed although over the last few days I’ve gotten used to the extra width of the N2 and can now use it one handed close to how I did with the S3 so this I no longer a worry for me.
Browsing websites is nicer on the N2, I still find zooming in on some sites is needed but on the while things look nicer and sharper on the bigger screen.
Features/Other
S-Pen is the obvious one, it’s made certain things better, taking screenshots, annotating and sending the image on its way to whoever is really useful. That and drawing moustaches on people having just taken their picture with the camera. There aren’t as many S-Pen enabled apps as I was hoping for but I am also hoping this will be better over the next few months!
The camera initialises faster than on the S3, again, this is most likely down to having more free memory and the faster CPU clock in combination.
Battery life is a lot better. One review said that it was similar to the S3 given the screen size difference but I’m going home from work with 60%+ left whereas the S3 was ending up with ~40% with the same usage.
3G reception is more reliable on the N2 as well, at -91dBm I was finding that the S3 struggled to load pages but the N2 loads them normally even at -101dBm. Actual speed seems the same when in good reception areas though which is fine by me.
The speaker on the N2 is far nicer to listen to, makes youtube/movie trailers and TV shows etc a much nicer experience, coupled with the big screen, it’s really quite pleasant. Some will probably have seen my youtube]video of the speaker quality difference.
